Family Feud II: The Aftermath
The Christmas of the royal family row had come and gone. The Kaycee haters had made their stand and had been heard. Sarah the Blue Kacheek sighed as she slipped into the house late that night. In one sense, it felt like a humongous Turmaculus sized weight had been taken off of her back. In another sense, a rapidly growing Turmac had climbed aboard.
Although the tension in the family had finally been released, things were going to be rocky with the aftermath that would inevitably follow. Unfortunately, Sarah's own parents had been part of the team Kaycee had buttered up to heavily and had thus turned a blind eye to how Kaycee had been treating their only daughter. Of course this meant that her parents would not be pleased that she had exploded on the nasty Magtile-in-the-grass.
The front door gave its customary squeak as she opened the door and tentatively looked around. No one was waiting ominously in the living room. She peeked into the kitchen and dining rooms, but those too were empty. The hallway. Empty. Her room. Nobody waiting. Her parents room, surely. Nobody.
No way.
Sarah glanced at the Techo clock ticking away in the kitchen. Past midnight. It was no longer Christmas and still no one was home.
With an exhausted sigh, she slouched into her room; her angry outburst left her drained and all she wanted to do was sleep. She collapsed onto her Fresh Bamboo Bed and fell asleep almost the instant her head hit the pillow.
The next morning, Sarah woke up to a house that was uncomfortably silent. She could hear her parents moving around, but they seemed to be trying to keep quiet.
Her presents from last night were piled on her Fresh Bamboo Mat. Codestones, faeries, scratchcards of various types, and a few other random items that various family members had all given her to go toward her paint brush fund.
I might as well get these to the shop and start pricing them, Sarah thought to herself with a sigh, nudging several Codestones aside with her foot It's not like I want to go to the Battle Dome...
Sarah started to smile as she realized in a sense, she already had….in her grandpa's house. The smile quickly fell away as she realized she would have to carry all of this junk past her parents to get out of the house. Her tail drooped briefly before she took a nerve-calming breath and gathered everything up. Fortunately the shop wasn't far and the Pant Devil absolutely loathed the heat and humidity of the Island.
As she made her way past the kitchen, her father looked up from the week's Neopian Times and said, "Sarah, honey, we'd like to talk to you."
"I'll bet you do," Sarah was proud of how frosty her voice sounded, considering how hard it was for her to usually sound even a little mad, "And I'll make you a thousand Neopoint bet that I am not interested in hearing anything you have to say regarding apologies toward that sneaky, no-good, poisonous, little-" Sarah let the door slam behind her, effectively saving her from finishing that thought.
Pawkeets shrieked and screamed Petpet insults at neighboring Mirgles all along the path to the shop. The racket was so loud that her ears rang for several minutes as she began setting up her items and began pricing them with help from a hand held communicator with the Shop Wizard.
As customers wandered in and out of her shop, she began to daydream of her paint job. She was nearly there; these items would put her in range of a Mystery Island Paint Brush, and halfway to a Plushie Paint Brush. In reality, she still wasn't sure which she liked more.
On one paw, the Island Brush was much cheaper and it would make her look like a true native on this island. Sarah had been born here and lived here all her life. She knew all the natives, each shortcut to anywhere she wanted to go, explored Geraptiku every day and even managed to negotiate a tenuous live-and-let-live agreement with the giant Ghost Hissi taking up residence in the Tomb. If she chose to buy the Island brush, it would certainly fit her lifestyle.
On the other paw, her family – those who paid attention anyway – really liked the Plushie look and claimed it would fit her personality from the 'p' to the 'y'. It was as cuddly and warm as she was, though she had enough realism to keep it from being sickeningly sweet. But they really didn't have the final say in how Sarah was going to look. Not to mention there was always the danger of getting attacked by a plushie collector and getting dragged off to someone's Gallery…
She shuddered and nodded to herself; Island it was.
When the last item was bought, Sarah took the Neopoints out of the till and closed down the shop. She checked the time and was surprised to see that two hours had gone by.
I guess what my parents wanted to say wasn't so important that they had to come and pester me about it at the shop, she thought to herself wryly.
As Sarah checked her balance in the bank, she felt a rush of triumph; she had enough to buy her paint brush!
Deciding to make her lectures wait even longer, she pulled out the necessary Neopoints and went to the Trading Post. She negotiated with the owner, offering pure if he would put it up in the auctions. An hour later, the auction was over and the paint brush nestled in her paws. Two hours after that, she was off the ferry, through Neopia Central, and dipping the precious brush into the magical waters of the Rainbow Pool.
Taking a deep breath, Sarah paused as she heard the sounds of distant drumming; the Coconut Natives were having their Drum Ceremony back on the island. Taking that as a sign, Sarah stepped into the lukewarm water and took another deep breath. Not allowing herself any time to think, she ducked beneath the surface; the magical water closing over her head.
Under the water, the distant drumming seemed louder, and the beat could be felt against her skin. Her world turned a blinding white as the magic paint took hold. She surfaced with a gasp of fresh air and looked down. Her fur was a pale sandy yellow with white tribal markings. Hand carved sandals fit her feet snugly and a Kougra tooth hung around her neck by a cord. The thing she loved most though was the pink tropical flower tucked behind one of her long ears.
Feeling elated, Sarah hopped the next ferry to the Island and sprinted along the shore to show her friend, the Haiku Kougra.
"Amazing Sarah!
Your paint job looks wonderful.
You made up your mind?"
The Haiku Kougra greeted her warmly.
Sarah nodded and accepted his silent invitation into his grass hut, "Yeah, most of my family wanted me to be Plushie, but I decided that Mystery Island suits me the best. After all, I am a native here… Though I think a lot of my family members will be disappointed."
"They are not the ones
Who will have to live with it
Day in and day out."
He chided her gently,
"They have no real say
In your decision of looks;
Only opinion."
"True," Sarah agreed, "Though I am still not looking forward to going home. My parents want to talk to me about my outburst last night, and I don't think they want to congratulate me on my ability to speak up and speak out," she sagged into a chair, accepted a chilled cup of Astranna juice and sipped it gratefully, "I have a feeling it will be another royal family row and this time I won't be able to storm out the door."
The Haiku Kougra smiled gently,
"Not fun I am sure
But you are stronger than you
Really think you are.
Tell them the whole truth
And do not apologize
For doing what's right."
Sarah took a deep nerving breath, finished off her juice and got to her newly sandaled paws, "Thank you, my friend. I think I just needed to hear those words."
The Haiku Kougra simply smiled and patted her shoulder as she headed out the door.
As she walked along the path toward home, Sarah prepared herself for the session that was to come. Having lived with her parents all her life, she knew exactly the kinds of things her parents would accuse her of and knew everything she needed to return fire.
The door squeaked, making the only sound in the ominously silent house. She felt her tail bristle before she took her final nerving breath and walked inside.
Her parents were in the front room, sitting next to each other on the couch. They looked up as Sarah walked in and remained silent as they took in her new look.
"Sarah…" her mom began, "The family would have liked to see you painted Plushie."
"Yeah," she replied flatly, feeling the first drop of annoyance prickle in her gut, "But in the end it wasn't their decision now was it?"
Her mom opened her mouth to reply, and then closed it again when she realized that it was a losing argument on that subject.
"Sarah, we want to talk to you about last night," her father said, his voice low and stern.
"You're right," Sarah replied, waving a paw dismissively, "I should have thanked my real family for the real gifts I got. In my anger against Kaycee, I forgot to stop in the middle of storming out to thank them."
Her mom narrowed her eyes, "Young lady, I don't know where this sarcastic attitude of yours came from but it needs to leave and I mean now."
"Not until-"
"NOW young lady!" her father yelled.
"Not until I've said what I'm going to say…" Sarah growled, feeling the annoyance heat up to anger.
Her parents were starting to cut her off just like Kaycee!
"Number one, stop interrupting me. Right now." Sarah said coldly, "Number two, I will not apologize to Kaycee. So let it go. She's been treating half this family, including me, like items in the Meridell Rubbish Dump!"
Her parents were silent for a moment, and then her mother frowned, "Sarah, why did you wait until now to tell us how you've been treated?
Snap! The sound of a closing trap! Sarah thought to herself, pulling herself up to full height, "I DID tell you! I told you the very first day Kaycee slithered into our family like a Magtile. 'Kaycee treats me like Tombola junk.' I said. You never even looked at me. 'Kaycee keeps interrupting me,' I said. You didn't even answer me, you just muttered, 'Well she treats Grandpa well'. Well that's not an excuse!"
"Well she DOES take good care of your Grandpa," Sarah's father proclaimed.
"Well yippee skippy for Grandpa!" Sarah shouted, "What about the rest of us? Huh? She ruined my birthday by choosing MY BIRTHDAY restaurant for me. She ruined my Christmas by giving me a gift card to that same nasty restaurant. She runs over the top of me whenever I speak. And not just me, she does it to Jerla and Daylar too! And to my Aunt and Uncle. And to Jerla's friend, who by the way is so close to being family that the only thing keeping him apart is that we haven't Adopted him."
Sarah railed on, listing every single slight that Kaycee had aimed her way and even the things that rotten Kacheek had done to other members of the family. Her parents were silent throughout the whole ordeal, either startled by Sarah's outburst (which was lasting longer than anything she had ever talked about in her life) or shocked by how many things Sarah could list to add to her case.
Finally she had let out all the pressure she had been building up in the years Kaycee had been with the family and fell silent, clenching her paws into fists and trembling with the rush that had come with her anger.
"You know what?" Sarah said, dangerously quiet, when her parents didn't speak for several minutes, "I don't CARE if Kaycee takes good care of Grandpa. I don't CARE if Kaycee is nice to MOST of you. She broke the biggest rule this family: 'Love all or love none.' She needs to either treat us all nicely or treat us all terribly. And from now on… I'm not going to put up with it!"
"You're right," her father said quietly.
Sarah slowly turned around and stared at him, "Oh so now you agree with me? Now after I've made sure you can't ignore me anymore? NOW you LISTEN!"
"No… though that is part of it," her father sighed, "After you left, your cousins dropped a big bombshell on some of us, out of Kaycee's hearing."
Sarah's mother was looking at him now; suddenly alert.
"Kaycee is planning on selling some of grandpa's furniture off and moving her own in."
Shock jolted through Sarah, as well as a rapidly growing wave of alarm. "But… but that's grandpa's stuff! What will she do with the money?"
"Whatever she wants with it," her mother said, catching on. "Your grandpa is getting old. He's not as sharp as he used to be… His furniture will be replaced, and the money for them will disappear into Kaycee's purse. Once she's moved into his home, we'll never get rid of her. Grandpa is too kind to kick her out if she 'has nowhere else to go' and she'll keep on ruining it for the rest of the family."
"That… that… That MAGTILE!" The blood drained from Sarah's face. That horrible Kacheek making herself a permanent resident in her grandpa's home? Ugh! The very idea!
Shaking hard, Sarah sat down on the floor right where she had been standing.
Her parents shared a silent look, and then raced off into the back of the house. Slowly Sarah followed. By the time she found her parents again, they were sending out Neomail after Neomail to the entire family, telling them about Kaycee's tricks.
Replies were already pouring in even as they were sending another Neomail to someone else. The whole family was on high alert just like that. Sarah's dad and two aunts (grandpa's son and daughters respectively) were going to immediately ix-nay the whole idea of letting Kaycee move in.
They didn't dare expose Kaycee out of the blue, just in case they ended up getting shut out of the whole thing. But they could express opinions about the idea; for one thing, Grandpa had built his Neohome and all of his furniture by hand back in the old days and it had survived every hurricane the Island had experienced while neighbor's homes had been damaged. All kinds of family memories were attached to that beautiful furniture.
The family was quite close knit, and family news traveled fast and far. No one was going to be turning a blind eye NOW!
A weak kind of triumph trickled through Sarah's suddenly tired mind. She had been angry, terrified for Grandpa, and now…finally… Sarah had gotten to say what she needed to say. She was tired… very tired. But she had faced more stress today than she had before when she got angry. The Haiku Kougra was right… She was stronger than she had thought.
Quietly, Sarah got up and walked up the stairs to her room. With a heavy sigh, she flopped down on her bed. She felt emotionally drained on one paw, but very relieved on the other. The Turmac that had been hanging on her back was gone.
She had said her piece. She had made her case. And the whole family was now out to catch the sneaky, vicious, Magtile in the grass.
Taking a pencil to paw, she scribbled out a quick Neomail and sent it.
To: Haiku Kougra
Subject: Triumph!
Message: Success my friend! I made my case and opened my parent's eyes. It seems they have caught on to another of Kaycee's underhanded plots and are working to counter it as I write this. By Fyora and Pango Pango, I'm so glad I blew up when I did! Just think of what had happened if that horrible Kacheek sold all of Grandpa's beautiful stuff! Thank you sooooo much for supporting me through this. It means a lot to me.
Your friend,
Sarah the Island Kacheek
Only a few minutes later, she had her reply.
To: Sarah
Subject: Re: Triumph!
Message:
I never doubted;
You are very strong and wise
Not to mention brave…
(And here Sarah sat up straight with a muffled squeal of discovery.)
I'm not sure I could do what you did; standing up to your family and up to that terrible Neopet. I look up to you, you know. Keep your family close… you're their strongest member and you'll be a big help in outing that rotten Magtile. I only did what a true friend would do; and giving support was what you needed. I'm still wearing your necklace you know.
Sunny days at the beach,
Wekeli, Haiku Kougra
(Weh-kay-lay)
P.S. Shhhhh! ;)
Feeling privileged beyond words to be so trusted as to know the mysterious Kougra's true name, not to mention his secret "normal-ness", Sarah huggled her pillow happily before laying down again. Thinking about her mysterious friend's roguish wink and secretive grin, Sarah closed her eyes and took a well deserved nap.
The End.